Student Consumerism in Higher Education: An Analysis of Relationships with Institutions

Bossick, Michael John

ProQuest LLC, Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Kentucky

There has been much discussion in recent years concerning student consumerism and its potentially negative impact on higher education. Much of the literature has been anecdotal (Bellah 1999; Delucchi and Smith 1997; Edmundson 1997; Smith 2000), while some studies have been more empirical in nature (Levine and Cureton 1998; Delucchi and Korgen 2002). Although many dimensions of student consumerism have been documented, a shared definition has yet to be established in the literature. This study was intended to enhance our understanding of student consumerism by estimating the magnitude of student consumerism that currently exists. In order to understand the extent of consumerist attitudes and behaviors on college campuses, this study used a multi-institutional strategy to describe what types of differences existed at three types of institutions of higher education (baccalaureate college, master's university, and research university) in a Southern state. With cooperation from the selected institutions, samples of undergraduate students' e-mail addresses were selected at random from each institution, resulting in approximately 1300 students participating in the on-line survey. An analysis of the data using multiple regression and an analysis of variance (ANOVA) suggests that students at different institutions focus on different types of capital (i.e. cultural, economic, and social), and students who lack academic enthusiasm differ greatly from those who embrace scholastic activity. There appear to be multiple types of consumers in higher education, suggesting that student consumerism is more complex than previous studies indicate. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]